Late Night
by catful
Summary: Bender was better at being comforted, not comforting others.


Bender and Fry had stayed up late, watching an all-night marathon of All My Circuits and drinking casually to pass the time. For the most part, they were silent, only reacting to what was on the television, and discussing emotionally what they thought was going to happen next during the commercial breaks, which were always positioned during the most tension-filled parts of the episode. The more the night weathered on, however, the less coherent Fry became, and a little after midnight, he was hardly focused on what was happening on the TV.

Fry did not get this drunk very often. Most of the time, he only ever drank enough to get a strong buzz going. Depending on the situation, he could be a very hilarious and active drunk, dancing on tables and singing loudly (and badly) at parties. Here, however, in the quiet darkness of their home, Fry, it seemed, was a very depressing drunk.

"What's the matter with _you_?" Bender asked, irritated after the third commercial break that Fry had remained silent through. Fry stared at his drink, unwilling to respond, "Ah, great. You're getting all emotional," Bender took a drink, "Can you at least do that in the other room? I'm trying to enjoy this."

"No, ith's okay!" Fry slurred quickly, taking another swig of alcohol, "I'm okay! We can keep wa'shin'."

Bender didn't respond, but turned his attention back to the television as the commercial ended and Calculon came back on the screen. Part way through the episode, however, he heard Fry begin to cry quietly. With a groan, he paused the episode, turning to glare at Fry. An insult was fresh on his mind, as he was about to tell Fry to go the hell to bed, but one look at his friend's face was enough to stop him. Bender's anger drained away as he watched Fry cry, and he sighed, throwing an arm over his shoulders.

"There, there, meatbag," he said quietly, while Fry began to cry harder, "You can tell your ol' pal Bender what's wrong... but make it quick, I want to get back to my show."

Fry began to slur incoherently, and Bender could only catch a few words here and there that didn't make much sense out of context. He waited, staring blankly at Fry, who's face was red and wet with tears. He was obviously very distressed about _something_ , but Bender couldn't tell what it was when he was blubbering so much. Come to think of it, he didn't think he'd ever seen Fry cry so much. After a few moments, he decided put an end to this.

"Yeah, okay buddy, that's enough," he glared at Fry, who sniffed and went quiet, leaning over and resting against Bender's cold, metal torso. Bender huffed, but something sparked inside of him, and his electronics buzzed for a moment. He leaned his head against his hand, unpausing All My Circuits and turning back to the TV while Fry leaked quietly beside him. Occasionally, he would pat Fry on the shoulder, muttering things like, "There, there," and "It's okay," absently. After a few more episodes, he decided to call it quits, and turned the TV off, noting that he hadn't really been paying much attention to the last couple episodes anyway.

"Well, good job. You ruined our All My Circuits marathon," he said to Fry, who looked blearily up at him, face still red from crying.

"Shorry," he murmured sadly, and Bender groaned loudly, glaring at the ceiling if only so he didn't have to see the raw emotional display Fry was embarrassing himself with, "I'm jush' 'ad," he went on, and Bender gave him a quick, reluctant squeeze.

"Yeah, yeah, we're all sad," He said, "but you gotta get off me now so I can go power down," he said, moving as if to stand up. Fry let him leave, falling onto the couch where he had been sitting and frowning up at him.

"B'now I'm all shideways," he said miserably.

"Hey, don't put that on me, this is your own fault," Bender said, pointing at him in an accusatory fashion. Fry's expression wavered, and Bender rolled him over so he was on his back, "Better?" he asked. Fry nodded, "Whelp, I'm gonna go, then! 'Night!" Bender said, and began to walk away, perhaps a little more quickly than he would have if Fry weren't an emotional wreck. He was better at _being_ comforted, not comforting others. Fry probably wouldn't remember any of this in the morning, anyway.

"Wait!" Fry called after him, and Bender gave a disappointed moan, turning around, "Can you shtay until I sleep?"

"What, no way!" He crossed his arms, glaring, "You've gone to sleep plenty of times without me!"

" _Bender_ ," Fry whined, and Bender's circuits did that awful, buzzing thing again.

"Ugh, fine! But you owe me," he said, stomping over to Fry's side, "Even if you don't remember why," Fry smiled up at him, and then closed his eyes. They were quiet for a moment, and Bender eventually realized he had been staring at Fry for a while. He quickly looked away, tapping his foot while he waited. When he thought enough time had passed, he began to leave quietly, but was stopped in his tracks when Fry spoke up.

"'Ey, Bender," he slurred quietly, sounding only half conscious. Bender turned and walked back to the couch, waiting for him to continue, "D'you think... How long d'you think... it took my parents t'notice... when I..." he trailed off. Bender stared at him quietly.

"How should I know?" he said a moment or so later, when it was clear Fry was waiting for an answer, "I didn't know them."

"D'you think... they even cared..." he trailed off, and this time the sound of gentle snores filled the silence. Bender crossed his arms, glaring at Fry.

"Lousy human," he muttered, irritated, "Making me _listen_ ," he kicked the couch, but Fry did not stir or say anything. Bender watched him sleep for a few minutes, and his expression began to soften after a while, when it was safe to say that Fry really was asleep. He ruffled Fry's hair, sighing.

"Pathetic little meatbag," he muttered, almost affectionately, and then moved Fry to his bed, where he would sleep more soundly.

In the morning, Fry had a horrible, pounding headache. He went to the bathroom first and threw up, then took a couple aspirin and started to get dressed. Feeling groggy, he went to grab his wallet, noticing that it was open and overturned. He snatched it up, and opened the largest pocket, shocked to see that it was empty. He rushed out into the living room, where Bender was sitting on the couch, presumably waiting for him so they could leave for work.

"Bender!" Fry shouted, irritated, "Why is my wallet empty?"

"Probably because I took the money out," Bender said, shrugging. Fry gaped at him in anger, "Oh, and we're even, by the way."

* * *

oh, i don't know. just a quick one-shot. there isn't enough frender/fender and i've read pretty much every fic about these two that i could find. i'm going stir crazy here!

so, anyway, i hope you enjoyed this. sorry if they seemed out of character! this is my first time writing for either of them.

thanks for reading!


End file.
